There aren't many absolutes in racing. Here's a few, however, that most racers agree on: extra weight is bad; front end weight is worse; and an overheating race car is a serious problem. An aluminum racing radiator can address all three of these issues in one fell swoop.
Teams at the higher levels of racing have already figured out that an aluminum racing radiator is a big benefit but there are still a lot of lower class racers who think the $200-$300 price tag is a deterrent. It's time that this thinking was turned around. Let me lay out a few reasons why an aluminum racing radiator is a good bet. Number one, it's a whole lot lighter than a junkyard radiator or any custom brass job. That weight is taken directly off the front tires as the radiator is nearly always located in front of the engine in race cars.
Most custom radiators use one-inch tubes for a massive improvement in coolant flow. An aluminum radiator looks absolutely trick and is good for psych-out horsepower. In addition, it doesn't wear out the way other big ticket items such as camshafts, headers and tires do.
We wanted to demonstrate how simple it is to use an aluminum radiator so we hooked up with the people at Fluidyne. The company has product in race cars competing at many levels of racing. From Winston Cup to Modifieds, from Legends racers to IROC cars, Fluidyne has a vast amount of experience in racing applications for radiators, heat exchangers, oil coolers, rearend and transmission coolers, high output electric fans and more.
Fluidyne custom-builds their aluminum radiators to your specs, and which really doesn't add much time to your delivery date. Furnace brazing means there's no epoxy anywhere on your radiator. When you deal on a custom-built basis, it allows you to determine what size inlet and outlet the radiator will have and exactly where they are located; whether or not there's a drain; selection of cross flow, vertical flow, circular flow or dual pass; one through four rows, width, height and thickness dimensions, and even odd shapes.
Here's the lowdown on installing an aluminum racing radiator in a Street Stock. The best way to secure an aluminum radiator is at the tanks where there is the most strength. Stay away from the middle area where the tubes and fins can't offer as much support. If that isn't a viable option, the next best thing is to cradle the radiator in a full-length crossbar and devise a hold-down on top that spreads the load. That's what we're showing in this article.
